654 



SUBTERRANEAN" KOME. 



with six compartments round them, each hav- 

 ing a distinct subject. Another, belonging to 

 the same gentleman, has Christ with the rod of 

 power, changing water into wine; and, again, 

 enabling the paralytic to carry his bed, and also 

 protecting the "three children" in the fiery 

 furnace; as well as Tobias with the monster 

 fish. Our Lord is frequently represented as the 

 Good Shepherd upon them. The Virgin also 

 occurs very frequently, and in various combi- 

 nations. There are inscriptions upon them, 

 too, such as " Joyfully mayst thou live with all 

 thine; happy mayst thou live forever in the 

 peace of God." Eighty of the known examples 

 have figures of Saints Peter and Paul upon 

 them; and some of these have inscriptions 

 which are of a convivial character, as though 

 they were intended for use at feasts, or espe- 

 cially at the feasts of those Apostles. The ex- 

 amples of these quoted are, when translated, 

 as follows: "A mark of friendship, drink, and 

 [long] life to thee, with all thine. Mayest thou 

 live [long]. A mark of friendship, drink, and 

 [long] life to thee, with all thine, drink [or, live], 

 and propose a toast. Mayst thou live happily 

 with thine own. Life and happiness to thee and 

 thine." 



The Christian sarcophagi are another distinct 

 department in the antiquities of the catacombs. 

 By far the largest number of these have been 

 transported to the great hall of the Lateran 

 palace, where they were arranged by Padre 

 Marchi, and have since been increased in 

 number by De Rossi. They are not so early as 

 the paintings. Only eighteen can be identified 

 by their inscriptions as belonging to the first 

 four centuries, and of these only four are con- 

 sidered as anterior to the time of Constantine. 

 The earliest, with a definite Christian subject 

 depicted upon it, the nativity, has a consular 

 date, which determines it as the work of A. D. 

 343. The cause of this tardy use of sculpture 

 is attributed to the fact that the painter could 

 prosecute his work underground safe from ob- 

 servation, while there would be not only the 

 danger of drawing attention to any sculpture 

 executed in a workshop, but the difficulty of 

 getting it conveyed to the catacombs. But, 

 directly the Christian religion became pro- 

 tected by the conversion and profession of Con- 

 stantine, the sculptor was freely employed. 

 Sometimes, we know, a Christian, desirous of 

 placing some beloved object in a sarcophagus 

 in preference to depositing the remains in an 

 ordinary recess in the wall of a catacomb, 

 bought a sculptured stone of a pagan artist, 

 and then effaced his work with a chisel, or 

 turned the ornamentation to the wall that it 

 might not offend Christian eyes when fixed. 

 On the reverse of a tomb slab inscribed Irene, 

 for example, was found a Bacchanalian scene ; 

 and a representation of Cupid and Psyche was 

 found with signs of plaster upon it buried be- 

 neath the floor, as though it had been likewise 

 hidden from devout eyes. This branch of the 

 subject is also ably treated. 



The mode of construction, and the gradual 

 development of a cemetery is the next depart- 

 ment broached. It is illustrated with several 

 plans, which make it extremely clear notwith- 

 standing its intricacy. Taking the catacomb of 

 San Calixtus as an example, it is shown that 

 after the Christian proprietor had secured a 

 site 250 feet along a road, with a depth of 100 

 feet, he caused a staircase to be dug down to a 

 certain level, and then a gallery to be picked 

 out which extended round three sides of the 

 area, and was furnished at the extreme end 

 with a second staircase to the surface. The 

 second side, of course, connected the two others, 

 but at intervals down the length of frontage 

 there were two other galleries that extended 

 and also communicated right through the site 

 with both. Besides these, there were also four 

 other galleries crossing the depth, but not 

 quite extending to the opposite side. One of 

 these shorter galleries led to the papal crypt 

 and its accessories ; and opening out of the main 

 passage close to the approach to this celebrated 

 centre were formed three cubicula. Thus the 

 plan is three sides of an oblong, with passages 

 crossing from one side to the other, and others 

 beginning to cross, but not completing the 

 undertaking ; and one of these shortened gal- 

 leries widening out and opening into crypts, 

 all alike being filled with graves. Afterward 

 fresh excavations, on a lower level, gained by 

 steps, formed more galleries stretching across 

 the area ; and additional cubicula were made 

 to open out of the first main gallery, uniform 

 with the first set, only, instead of ascending a 

 few steps into them as in their case, a descent 

 of several was made. A third extension of the 

 cemetery is visible when the fossors en- 

 deavored to penetrate to a still lower level; 

 but when they had made thirty-three steps 

 down they found themselves through the stra- 

 tum of tufa granulare in which they had 

 hitherto been working, and in one of a friable 

 pozzolana. They strengthened their wall with 

 brickwork, and made some loculi with bricks, 

 and pushed on, probably thinking to get 

 through this unsuitable stratum, but eventually 

 abandoned the plan of obtaining space by this 

 means. The tiles and bricks used by them are 

 found to be all stamped with the mark of the 

 imperial brick-kiln of Marcus Aurelius, and 

 must therefore have been manufactured be- 

 tween the. years A. D. 161 and 180. The fossors 

 enlarged the crypt of the popes at this time. 

 By-and-by we find means taken to prevent the 

 approach to the cemetery by concealing the 

 entrances and blocking up the staircases. About 

 six feet of the base of one staircase was re- 

 moved, and several entrances were made from 

 an adjacent sand-pit, so that, in case of pursuit, 

 escape was facilitated. Finally, this cemetery 

 was enlarged by communications made into 

 others, into the history of which we cannot 

 enter. And, after all, in the days of the perse- 

 cution under Diocletian, the galleries that had 

 been made with so much care, and lined with 



